Baraza

Category: Lions, Uncategorized | Date: Jul 22 2008 | By: baraza

Lions! Even though I’ve known Will Travers for years, it took us awhile to get him blogging with us. If you haven’t seen the Born Free Blog yet then you’ve missed a lot. Today the significance of what his family and the Adamson’s have done for lions really dawned on me. I have to thank Sheryl who has a great blog and Christine for this link showing Christian the Harrods lion cub that went back to the wild and still remembered his original owners. I know you will totally adore this clip because it’s completely true.

This is so central to my own personal story. At age 17 I had completed highschool and was forced into secretarial college - the logic being that if all else failed (ie. bad grades preventing me from getting to college) I could at least be as secretary - Oh Yay! My friend and I absconded one day to listen to scientific talks at the National Museums of Kenya about Kora- the home of George Adamson and Christian, Elsa etc. That was the last day we attended secretarial college and the first day of freedom!

We were completely mesmerized with the scientists, so infatuated with the idea of spending time in the bush, but at 17 we had absolutely no clue. So, even though it was totally out of character, I approached Richard Leakey, the Director of the Museum, and told him that I wanted to work for George Adamson. Back then I wanted to be a wildlife ranger and had no concept of the dangers in that part of our country.

Leakey gave me great advice but didn’t let me go to the bush for 3 years - by then I had a bachelors degree and I’ve never looked back. Like so many people who care about wildlife, the Born Free film and books really struck a chord with me. I regret that I never met George, but I’m really happy that Will Travers and his team keeps the Born Free message burning.

Though the video seems so outdated, the issues are just as critical as ever, lions are on the brink of extinction and we need to do everything to save every last individual. That means saving Dolo, a captive Ethiopian lion, check it out here

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Category: Appeals, Lions | Date: Jul 18 2008 | By: Maina

If you haven’t visited the Lion Guardians blog lately, then you need to do so. They have been running a special campaign aimed at securing sponsorship for the nine Maasai morans they have employed as lion guardians. It costs $95 per month and if nine of you can take one each, then they can put their worries aside and concentrate on protecting the king of the jungle.

They have been profiling each of the 9 guardians since Tuesday, 15 July 2008, starting with the versatile Anthony Kasanga and then the humble Kipande on Wednesday. Yesterday was Koikai’s day and you can go to their blog to read the brief bio of this interesting guardian.

Koikai to base: the daring moran on his cellphone

Did you know he’s the only guardian without a ‘lion name’? A lion name is given to morans who’ve killed a lion and Koikai has never killed a lion (although he may have been involved in several lion hunts). All guardians are now ‘reformed’ and are working hard to educate the others not to kill lions.

They need our support. Please sponsor one or two or three guardians.

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Category: Lions | Date: Mar 13 2008 | By: admin

I am typing this in the car on the way home (I have a little gizmo that connects to my computer). I’ve never done this before (posting literally on the road)  but then rarely have I felt so compelled  – this is an emergency. We just heard from the lion guardians that lions are being speared in Amboseli – one of Kenya’s premier protected areas. But it’s not just lions, I have heard from good authority that it’s not just lions that are being targeted. Eleven elephants have also been speared to death and we’re trying to find out from Joyce Poole and the Amboseli Elephant Program if this is true.

This is not about human conflict, it’s not about hunger. It has that stinking whiff of rotten politics.

I’ve tried consulting with my colleagues at Kenya Wildlife Service, on the record they are not aware of any ‘reports’. Of course, you can be ‘ignorant’ of issues so long as there’s no typed report on your desk.

But off the record they have admitted that lions and elephants are being killed in Amboseli. They are worried, really worried and they talked about it at a big conference recently. The tourism crisis is cutting deep, it’s affecting everyone. Wildlife compensation schemes that depended on tourism have all but collapsed. Communities that are no longer benefiting, are retaliating. The government authorities held a meeting last week to talk about the serious situation facing lions.

It’s very serious. Kenya’s lion population has crashed from 10,000 in the 1970’s to fewer than 2,000 today. So, where is the response, where are the arrests, where are the convictions. Where is the justice? We are furious. What does it take to wake up the nation? Lions and elephants are probably the greatest tourist attraction to Kenya. Without them we have little hope of recovering the tourism numbers we once took for granted.

I just wish the authorities could be honest and transparent about what is happening, stop being afraid of the truth, and getting into the mindset that we, the public, the lovers of wildlife, the world at large, can help.

Ok..I have to stop now and send this post , we’re coming up to a police check!

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Category: Lions | Date: Jan 31 2008 | By: admin

Tuesday was cut short due to a hasty office evacuation due to riots following the murder of one of the opposition memberes of parliament. The trouble ended quickly but everyone is still very edgy. So yesterday I had alot of catching up to do with Brian on our plans to help save the Mara Triangle and I also had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Kasanga of the Lion guardians! I can confirm that he is as charming in real life as he is on the blog! We had a good chat and laughed a lot and talked seriously about his ideas for the lion guardians blog…..I’m sorry, I can’t finish what I was going to write about.
I started this blog post with a light heart, recalling a fun day yesterday, the first day of late in which we have felt ’safe’ and free to go about our work freely. I’ve just been informed that another member of parliament has just been murdered, shot. Recall that one MP was shot just two nights ago. We were afraid it was politically motivated but the police insist it was a ‘normal’ shooting (What on earth is a normal shooting? He wasn’t even robbed?). Now riots have started afresh in five big towns across Kenya. We are about to close the office for the second time this week to ensure we all get home safely. I can’t describe how low I fee at this moment, I feel disgusted and ashamed but mostly confused at what is going on.

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Category: Amazing facts, Lions | Date: Jan 02 2008 | By: admin

Let me start by saying I feel a bit guilty writing this blog as the trouble in Kenya rages. Yesterday over 35 women and children burned to death in a church they had sought refuge in. Thank you all for all your comments. We are all safe, Dipesh has been rescuing friends from Kisumu where over 100 have been killed by police - it’s an opposition area. I’m struggling to focus but will try….

My trip through Botswana in search of new blogs was quite an adventure - and a successful journey.

Botswana is a wild country so we (Peter my partner, Josh my 15 year old son, and I) planned thoroughly… or so we thought … we bought the guide books, talked to ‘experienced travelers’, checked the car, made calls and bookings, wrote endless checklists, did shopping more shopping and even more shopping … for camping gear, food, and gadgets for the 3,500 km trek through deserts and swamps. Proudly and highly organized we took off … but we had one last thing to do…

The last thing we had to do, was buy Botswana currency to pay for the border crossing which absolutely must be paid for in Pula (no not Paula’s, Pula’s). We dashed to the bank and discover that despite the fact that Botswana is an important neighbour, one has to ‘order’ the currency 24 hours in advance. WHAT?????? you can’t just go and buy Botswana currency over the counter of a bank or exchange bureau. And, why didn’t anyone tell us?

We couldn’t wait til the next day, instead we did an extra 6 hours driving to Polokwane with fingers crossed. Polokwane should be familiar to everyone. It’s where Jacob Zuma recently trounced the president of South Africa, Mr. Mbeki at the ANC Party elections causing a major upset, ……or not, depending on whose side you are on. It was BIG because this vote is likely to decide the next president of South Africa – it may well be Zuma, if he can dispose of the small matter of charges of racketeering, tax evasion and corruption amongst others …. But that’s politics, lets get back to wildlife

Josh and Peter in a very civilized camp in Khama

Arriving late in Botswana we drove straight to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary where we set up camp for the night.

“The Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust is a community based wildlife project, established in 1992 to assist in saving the vanishing rhino, restore an area formerly teeming with wildlife to its previous natural state and provide economic benefits to the local Batswana community through tourism and the sustainable use of natural resources”

At Khama I met with Moremi the warden/manager and Ompatile (Opie)

It’s a wonderful place. Some years ago local members of the Serowe community decided to convert this local cattle post into a wilderness area – it had been a local hunting are that teemed with wildlife once. To restore the biodiversity, cattle and settlements were relocated and wild species protected. The government supported the community and assisted with the translocation of 14 white rhino into the Sanctuary. The first four in February 1993, from northern Botswana. Botswana has virtually no wild rhino’s, all wild rhino’s were removed from the wild and placed in sanctuaries for their own security due to poaching for their horns.

All the rhino settled well and soon began breeding. With further translocations, some sad deaths, and many happy the total number of white rhino at the Sanctuary is now 32 plus two black rhinos. This is now one of the most important rhino sanctuaries in Botswana and the landscape is enormously valuable to many other species.

I just had to go check it out. As a community trust Khama is reliant on donor funding which is why they are interested in wildlifeDirect. So I looked up the local warden Mr. Moremi Tjibae and Ompatile Galaletsang who’s initial suspicion at my request for a meeting turned to mighty relief that we were here to try and help. So look out for a new blog about this interesting sanctuary.

From Khama we set off for Maun, it felt like a million kilometers away, but driving these long distances was n0t the toughest part,

Now I know its not wildlife but I HAVE to tell (warn) you about the donkeys

Botswana is the same size as Kenya (about Texas) and has a population of 1.6 million people (vs 35 million in Kenya) and I swear there are MORE donkeys than people over there. Here’s one of them in the Makgadikgadi pans (don’t worry, I can’t pronounce it either) en route to Maun…..I took this photo because this donkey was unique, it was NOT on the road where all the other millions were. They all just stand on the road – as if waiting for something. There aren’t that many cars but the roads are incredibly smooth and almost everyone is challenging the speed limit of 120kph (80 mph),…. We were blaring horns up to a kilometer away and the donkeys just stood there, heads hanging looking dejected… not moving, or sometimes they move from the edge ONTO the roads…resulting in wild swerving, foul language and heart tremors.

It was awful for us and I’m sure the donkeys too - we did only see one dead donkey – but many others had various stages of healing from collisions. I noticed that most donkeys couldn’t move even if they wanted, in Botswana donkey owners ‘control’ their donkeys movements by tying their front legs together. Yes… the poor things can only hobble – and do so at a very lethargic pace.

Nevertheless, the drive and the Makgadikgadi pans were spectacular. Mainly because there were amazing wide open spaces and few people (Botswana’s population growth rate is enviable - a mere 0.4%).

Maun is on the edge of the great Okavango Delta but I can tell you that the town is not a place to write much about…We had to get to Maun to fly to Selinda … a magical place near the northern border of Botswana. A private conservancy run by Derek and Beverly Joubert, better known as the Jouberts of big cat documentary fame and National Geographic - you can read about them here and buy their amazing book The African diaries here.

I met the Jouberts in Washington at the National Geographic offices, and we’ve been talking about the possibility of doing a blog about Selinda and big cat conservation in Africa. I wanted to see the place …

Here are some pictures that I hope tell the story themselves …

We had to fly to Selinda from Maun -over the edge of the Okavango Delta - and into rain storms

Derek warned me it as kind of wet at this time of the year - kind of ??? This is the Selinda spillway that connects the Okovango Delta to the Chobe River ecosystem - it was a major flood.

We landed late in the afternoon on a bush strip in the middle of nowhere- nobody had come to pick me up!

Sunset was spectacular … but there was not even the hum of a vehicle coming to pick me up! - the pilot wanted to go back to Maun before it got too dark to land…

We took off again to ‘buzz’ the camp - look at the horizon - the way this bush pilot was flying seemed -more intended to frighten the daylights out of me - we’re talking low level near vertical approach … totally gratuitous and terrifying but probably served to satisfy his adrenalin needs. I couldn’t help wondering why is it that all the bush pilots in Botswana seem to be 21 year old Australian or New Zealander fright freaks?

It’s been my life time dream to see wild dogs an extremely rare, intelligent, social and beautiful animal

The wildlife spectacle made me forget the flight and I did see a wild dog - but that was after the lions spotted it… it wasn’t happy.

We found these two lionesses lying lazily atop a termite mound. After an age tehy got up slowly and sountered off into the bush stopping for a drink on the way. They looked so beautiful, calm, natural -gentle, almost huggable - we were only a few meters away from them.

We followed them for an hour and they didnt’ seem to be going anywhere specific, just strolling lazily, we knew that one had 8 kittens, our hope was to see the cubs. Then witnessed this killing…

I know it’s nasty and was very difficult to photograph, but this IS what happens. These lionesses bumped into the wild dog and then suddenly their mood changed from lazy stroll to chemically induced trance. The dog was alone - not hunting - he was probably looking for his pack. They spotted him as they came over a rise, and were on top of him before he could even begin an escape. The lions had him in their grasp for 45 minutes, but they didn’t kill him, just left him debilitated then looked at us as if ‘What are you looking at?’ and swaggered off.

Though in the clutches of the lions was looking directly up at me. I felt sick. He was still alive when they finally left, I wanted to end his suffering but we couldn’t do anything … I’m still in shock about it. I’d appreciate your thoughts on why you think the lions behaved this way and do let me know if you think these pictures are too graphic.

The rest of the day had a very somber feel… and the next morning we had another great drive and breakfast in the bush.

Sadly the Jouberts weren’t able to come meet us as a minister had asked them for an impromptu meeting on the same day they were to fly to Selinda So we had a wonderful two days at the worlds most amazing dreamy camp in the middle of the bush with an amazing guide called Bibi. He took us out for 2 of the best game drives I’ve ever been on. This is my son Josh on the right, Bibi in the middle. Next we drove to the Kalahari Desert….where we saw more big cats interacting with jackals….

Here’s our species list

MAMMALS

Chacma Baboon

Cheetah

Common duiker

Elephant

Giraffe

Hippopotamus

Impala

Black backed Jackal

Greater Kudu

Red lecwe

Lion

Common reedbuck

Serval cat

Steenbuck

Tsessebe

Warthog

Waterbuck

Wild dog

Wildebeest

Zebra

BIRDS

Bateleur

Carmine bee eater

Kori bustard

White browed coucal

Wattled crane

Pied crow

Water dikkop

Cape turtle dove

Namaqua dove

Knob billed duck

White faced duck

African fish eagle

Booted eagle

Tawny eagle

Black egret

Cattle egret

Great white egret

Little egret

Lanner falcon

Red billed firefinch

Paradise flycatcher

Red billed francolin

Swainsons francolin

Egyptian goose

Pygmy goose

Spurwinged goose

African goshawk

Gabar goshawk

Helmeted guineafowl

Hammerkop

African marsh harrier

Grey heron

Squacco heron

Grey hornbill

Red billed hornbill

Yellow billed hornbill

African jacana

Pied kingfisher

Blackshouldered kite

Yellow billed kite

Grey laurie

Ostrich

Yellow billed oxpecker

Grassveld pipit

Blacksmith plover

Crowned plover

Threebanded plover

Wattled plover

Red billed quelea

White browed robin

Lilac breasted roller

Common sandpiper

Wood sandpiper

Secretary burd

Greyh headed sparrow

Burchells starling

Greater blue eared starling

Open billed stork

Saddle billed stork

European swallow

Common wax bill

Shaft tailed whydah

And many many others that I couldn’t identify

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